Limit 7 Card Stud Cash Games Guide

Learn about Structure, Antes, Common Mistakes,Starting Hands, Pairs

You can improve you Limit Seven-Card Stud game by playing
in a solid, tight and aggressive style.You can balance bluffs and semi-bluffs
with solid play, and focus on Third Street play which is the most important
betting round.

If you play correctly here, you'll face fewer betting challenges
in later rounds because the game rapidly becomes very complex and hard
to analyze as it moves on.

Limit
Seven-Card Stud requires employment of a lot of strategy, a lot of
skill and discipline, and the ability balance different concepts simultaneously.Analysis is difficult because of the additional round of betting.

As in all forms of poker are great, but
there are exceptions to the rules and the concepts that
must be clearly grasped in order to be a successful, winning
player.You must know when to make exceptions and use
judgement to make the best decision possible in any given
situation.Not every play scenario fits into clear guidelines.

Key Player Skills Required For
Successful Seven-Card Stud

Patience
and discipline in hand selection

Correct
table selection

Discipline,
waiting for the right cards and avoiding second-best hand

Reading
other players

Courage
to bet/raise/call down

Ability
to avoid tilting

Ability
to remember other players' upcards

Seven-Card Stud vs.Texas Hold'em

Here are the major differences between
Seven-Card Stud and Texas Hold'em:

1.Seven-card Stud has
no community cards.

2.Seven-card Stud has
an ante and bring-in bet instead of blinds.

3.Seven-card Stud have
five betting rounds rather than four in Hold'em.

4.When playing Seven-Card
Stud, the player holding the best cards showing begin
the wagering round except in the first round when the
lowest card showing begins betting.

5.In Seven-Card Stud the
player who has the best s starts the action on every betting
round, except for the first round of betting when the
lowest upcard begins.

6.In Seven-Card Stud you
must remember the folded upcards.

7.In Seven-Card Stud the
number of players is limited to eight.

8.In Seven-Card Stud there
is no position edge before the cards are dealt.The cards
determine who acts first and last each round.

9.In Seven-Card Stud luck
is an important short-term factor.The standard deviation
is greater and the game requires a larger bankroll.

Structure and Antes

1.All players are dealt
two cards face-down, the hole cards, and one card dealt
face-up, the upcard.The cards are dealt one at a time.

2.The player with the
lowest upcard makes a bring-in bet.

3.Betting continues clockwise
with the player to the left of the bring-in wager.

4.A fourth card is dealt
face-up.The player holding the best upcards and continues
clockwise.

5.A fifth card is dealt
face-up.The action begins with the player holding the
best upcards acts first and betting continues clockwise.

6.A sixth card is dealt
face-up.Again, action begins with the player holding
the best upcards and continues clockwise.

7.A seventh card is dealt
face-down and betting action starts with the player holding
the best upcards and continues clockwise.

8.All players in the hand
make out the best possible five-card poker hand.

Limit Seven-Card Stud Top Advice

1. Selective
with your starting hands with care: Choosing
the right starting hands in any situation is extremely
important.

2. Table
Choce: On play where you
have an edge.Find a table with at least a couple of
weak players.

3. Play
the Players: Sssess the opposition;
determine who plays poor cards, who folds when agression
appears, when bets the draws, who calls with weak cards
and long-shots, who bluffs and who falls for bluffs.

4. Pump
it or Dump it: Either or
bet/raise if the odds are with you.Avoid calling unless
you have a good reason such as trapping an opponent.

5. Remember
Upcards: Look at the upcards
the other players are dealt and remember them.It is
very important to know if the hands are "live", which
meansnone or few of the key cards are gone, or not.

6. Raise
with b Ddraws: When
you hit on a good draw, perhaps a four-flush on Fourth
Street, consider raising instead of calling.This can
cause other players to fold a better hand while you
remain on a draw.

5.Drawing for cards that
are likely to give you a second-best hand.This might
include: calling an opponent, who raised holding a King,
with a hand like (5-5) J or hitting two-pair which could
easily make you a second-best hand.

6.Pay attention exclusive
to your own game and failing to note that of the other
players.How many players usually remain in the pot at
Fourth Street? Who raises on Third Street? What players
are still in the pot? Consider these questions as you
play.

9.Calling too frequently
when you should be raising, especially when you are sure
you have the best hand.

10.Poor table choice.

General Third Street Advice

Some of the big decisions in Seven-Card
Stud have to be made at Third Street and you must be ready
to decide whether you should play or get out.Some hands
play better when the pot is multi-way and others are best
for short-handed situations.The best multi-way pot hands
are drawings hands, such as three-flushes, three-straights
and combos of the two.The best hards for short-handed
play are the big pairs.

A great skill to develop for Seven-Card
Stud is the ability to be really choosey about which hands
with which you start.Too many players start too many
hands and this builds into more trouble as the betting
rounds compound the issue.If you start with nothing,
if you stay in, you could end up drawing with a hand that
really should have been folded and it will cost you lots
of chips in the long haul.

Some issues that should be taken into
account when deciding which hands to play are:

1.What cards are still
out?

2.How many players are
in the pot when it is your turn to act?

3.Is the table tight or
loose?

4.How many players are
at the table?

5.Has the pot been raised?
From what player and position?

6.What is your position
in relation to the raiser?

The factors that are most important are
which cards still remain out and how many players are
in the pot because the combination of these two factors
can make it right to toss away a great hand at Third Street.If
you are in a multi-way pot and have (J-J) 7, knowing both
other Jacks and at least one 7 are still out, you should
fold even though no other player has represented having
a bigger pair or shows bigger upcards than your Jacks.The
chance that you'll have the best hand at the end of play
is just too small to make it worthwhile to call or raise.Play
this hand only when you are in an ante stele position that
is already short-handed or when in a multi-way pot and all
your cards are live; other times, fold it.

It is not enough
to remember which cards remain out at Third Street.You also
have to watch what cards are turned up around the table.

Starting Hands

You have to know whether you hand is live
or not.Look around; most weak pairs, straight draws,
fush draws and other added value situations are playable
if your cards are completely live.If you start with (#Tc-#9s)
#8d, the hand is ber if the 7's are all live.It
is much weaker if you know that two 7's are out already.If all the 7's and one Jack are dead, your hand is just
about dead too! Of course, if you hold a pair of A's or
K's, with no Ace showing, you can usually play them even
if the hand is almost dead.

This list of the best starting hands
should help you decide when to start and when to fold:

1.Three of a kind (trips).Starting with (A-A) A and on down.

2.The big pairs AA-JJ.It is ber if the pair is hidden, making the hand
much more deceptive for the other players.Your kicker
is also important, a (J-J) A is ber than a (J-J)
2.

One way to add to your profits is to steal
antes.In a regular game, you frequently get enough pot
odds to show a profit if you only steal about 40% of the
time.You chances do not even have to be that great because
sometimes you will still win the pot even if someone
plays against you.Catching a "scare card", such as an
Ace or King showing) occurs around 12% of the time on
Fourth Street, allowing you to grab the pot by betting
and representing a pair.Frequently, the other players
will fold a small pair on Fourth Street if you play aggressively
and have higher upcards.

Stealing antes add some deception to
your game, preventing you from becoming predictable.If
you usually only raise legitimate raising hands, you may
never get any action on this and won't win much overall.When you want to steal, consider the other player's upcards.Consider stealing the antes when you have the highest
or second highest card showing.If you have the second
highest upcard and the highest card showing has not acted
yet, you can probably steal.The other players will think
you have a legitimate, b hand because you raised
into a better card.When doing this, consider the style
of the player who has that high upcard.Use care if the
player is a really great, aggressive player.If you tink
another player is trying to steal the ante, go for the
re-steal! Do this when you hold a bigger upcard than the
opponent and you hand has some added values such as a
potential flush.You'll call no matter what, so you might
want to re-raise if you think the other player is trying
to steal.

When in a tight game, steal when sitting
up front and showing an Ace or King.This doesn't work
in a loose game because the chance of a steal is greatly
reduced.You shouldn't try to steal when your card showing
is a duplicate of another player's upcard.The other player
will know what you are trying to do and you will get called.

Playing "Rolled-up Trips"

Rolled-up trips (three of a kind) are
dealth about once in every 425 deals.This is the very
best hand you can begin with even though it doesn't
guarantee taking the pot.In a loose game with lots of
players giving action with a broad spectrum of hands,
slow play is usually a mistake.Slow playing trips is
when you don't want to tell your hand.If a King raises
and an Ace re-raises, if you should re-raise with something
like rolled-up deuces, every player can guess your cards.Instead, wait for later betting rounds to show that you
have b holdings.The exception would be when you
have recently been making advertising plays with lots
of re-raises on hands like three-flushes.Then, you hand
can be played from Third Street forward.When slow playing
trips, wait until Fifth or Sixth Street for your initial
raise.Of course, base your decision on what the other
players show and represent, how many players are in and
how large the pot happens to be at the time.

Playing Big Pairs

AA through JJ are the big pairs and you
should play these hands.Only fold them when you are sure
someone has a bigger pair or when you know you are holding
dead cards.A JJ can be folded when the kicker is a rag
and lots of big cards will act after you.Muck your pair
if the pot has been raised and re-raised by bigger upcards.If you have a pair of Jacks and a Queen raises but if
re-raised by a King before you act, it is best to get
out because they probably hold bigger pairs than you.Before folding big pairs, think about the action and other
players.If another player pairs their door card and you
do not have a four-flush or four-straight, fold.

Playing Small and Medium Pairs

These are the factors to consider when
deciding whether to play medium or small pairs:

1.If you are not in a
steal position be certain all your cards are live before
you decide to play.

In most situations, fold medium pairs
in raised pots, unless you have a bigger kicker than the
pair the raiser is representing.

If you have a medium pair and there are
no upcards higher than your pair on the board, you should
almost always raise.A b kicker adds certain advantages.It lets you to represent a higher pair than you have and
increases your chances of getting the best two-pair.In
a raised pot, when you have a b kicker, call.If
the pot has been raised and re-raised, generally fold
no matter what additional value you hold.

Playing Three-Flushes

The correct method for playing three-flushes
depends on these four factors:

1.How high are your cards?

2.How many of your cards
are live?

3.What is your upcard?

4.What is your position?

These factors will impact how you play
the hand.Some three-flushes play well heads-up and some
are best for multi-way pots.If your flush cards remain
live but none of your pair cards are live, the hand is
best for a multi-way because you need to hit the flush
to win.This won't happen as frequently as winning through
pairs, so you need to be sure the pot is big enough to
pay for the times you haven't hit.If the flush cards
are all live, the hand is almost always very good to play.Raise when first-in when you have high upcards.Stealing
the ante works well and mixes up your play.

Playing Three-Straights

Three-straights are not as b as
three-flushes, nonetheless, but can still earn profit.Consider these factors when determining whether or not
to play the three-straights: